Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Lubbock Intl Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Slaton, Texas 79364
Monday, August 20, 2007 9:30 CST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The helicopter drifted backwards during a confined area operations training and the tail rotor blades struck tree branches while hovering over tall grass. The 11,330 hour flight instructor and the 16,800 hour pilot receiving instruction reported that they were both familiar with the training area being used, the flight was properly briefed, and they had both worked together as a crew in the past. The crew reported that the pilot performed a high recon of the landing area, noting the surface winds, approach and departure paths, and the conditions of the landing zone. The approach was planned to terminate at a hover. The grass at the landing zone is normally less than a foot long; however, due to the record rainfall this year, the grass was 3-to-4 feet tall. Both pilots underestimated the effects of prolonged hovering over tall grass. The tall-waving grass disoriented the pilot and allowed the helicopter to drift into the trees. The flight instructor was clearing the left side of the helicopter during the approach and hover, but was unable to react in time to take the flight controls to stop the drift. The flight crew immediately landed the helicopter in the confined area when they felt a vibration from the tail rotor. The helicopter was recovered to the operator's maintenance facility for damage assessment. Examination of the helicopter by the flight crew, the operator, and the FAA inspector, confirmed that both tail rotor blades were destroyed, the mounting bolts for the tail rotor 90 degree box were damaged or broken, and the tail fin gearbox mounting spar was also damaged.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain control of the hovering helicopter and the flight instructor's improper supervision of the flight.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/20/2007 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 930 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Standard Time |
| Event City | Slaton |
| Event State | TEXAS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 79364 |
| Event Date Year | 2007 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 332922N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1013903W |
| Event Location Airport | LUBBOCK INTL |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | LBB |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 3123 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1753 Coordinated Universal Time? Same as GMT |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 130 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KLBB |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 13 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | UTC |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 14000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 32 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 19 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 200 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 11 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.94 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 22233 |
| NTSB Notification Source | Lubbock FSDO |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 20 2007 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 2 2009 1:28PM |
| User who most recently changed record | johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Lubbock, Texas |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N911R |
| NTSB Number | DFW07CA186 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | Company VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Eurocopter Deutschland |
| Aircraft Model | BK117 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 7502 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 7386 |
| Aircraft Category | Helicopter |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 7 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | AAIP |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jul 1 2007 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 11456 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | -- |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Covenant Health System |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 3615 19th St. |
| Aircraft Owner City | Lubbock |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 79410 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Covenant Health System, dba AeroCare |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 3615 19th St. |
| Operator City | Lubbock |
| Operator State | TX |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 79410 |
| Operator Code | L19A |
| Owner has at least one certificate | Yes - certificate holder |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | -- |
| Operator Certificate Number | -- |
| Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not | -- |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | -- |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | -- |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Instructional |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | F49 |
| Departure City | SLATON |
| Departure State | TX |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1710 |
| Departure Time Zone | UTC |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | LBB |
| Destination City | LUBBOCK |
| Destination State | TX |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Hover - in ground effect |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 11 2012 3:00PM |
| User who most recently changed record | broda |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |